Obama is definitely on right track; in fact he is standing with the engineer while most politicians are in the caboose

Remarks by the President

_{^{The last point that I'd make -- and I made this point to the Business Roundtable yesterday -- it is very important, even as we're focused on the financial system and the credit markets, that we are laying the foundation for what I'm calling a post-bubble economic growth market. The days when we are going to be able to grow this economy just on an overheated housing market or people spending -- maxing out on their credit cards, those days are over. What we need to do is go back to fundamentals, and that means driving our health care costs down. It means improving our education system so our children are prepared and we're innovative in science and technology. And it means that we're making this transition to the clean energy economy. Those are the priorities reflected in our budget, and that is part and parcel with the short-term steps that we're taking to make sure that the economy gets back on its feet.}}

Obama is correct in suggesting that while the current issue may have surfaced in a credit markes, the solution is not more credit but some  context-changing program. The issue is not lack of capital. The crisis has gotten so bad that I need -- and I think others need -- to see some big catalytic change, some psychological shot-in-the-arm which will remind us that we are indeed as nation capable. We have just suffered two massive defeats: Iraq and the economy, both self-imposed. What we need now is to prove to ourselves that we still have competence. Even if credit is available, a great many economic actors (I am thinking of real estate in particular) will refuse to reinvest because of lack of confidence in  the overall scene.

My own bet/preference is on investment in health-care. It cuts cross the political spectrum; it particularly suits Obama's constituency. Vast dollars can rapidly be poured into training new health-care professionals and into taking care of our "delayed maintenance" — "50 percent of Americans do not receive regular oral health care." (Fun Dental Facts) Investment in health care matches Keynsian spending with a genuine social need,